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The Word - 2008/04/30

Posted On: 4/30/2008


The Word from CSEA

Columbus State Education Association Newsletter of April 30, 2008

CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE: PROGRESS

We are pleased to report that negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement have been productive.

Since setting forth ground rules on April 10 to define bargaining processes, schedules for exchanging proposals, and other procedural aspects of contract talks, your CSEA Bargaining Team and representatives of the College administration have met over four days. We have concluded tentative agreements on multiple issues and continue to divide the larger bargaining teams into small groups to move discussions and the drafting of potential contract language forward more quickly and effectively.

The parties have exchanged all non-economic proposals. Economic proposals will be exchanged on May 16.

We have been pleased with the atmosphere at the bargaining table. Having Dean Polly Owen and Dean Jack Cooley on the College’s bargaining team has proved beneficial, and their input has supplemented that of department chairs Garry Fourman (Modern Languages) and Mary Vaughn (Integrated Media and Technology).

Your CSEA Bargaining Team – President Darrell Minor (chief negotiator/ spokesperson), Amy Brubaker, Kevin James, Gil Feiertag, Ingrid Emch, and Steve Abbott (communications/public spokesperson)—continues to appreciate your encouragement and support. There will certainly be difficult bargaining ahead, but assuming that the current spirit of open discussion and compromise continues, we are confident that we can conclude a fair agreement.

Bargaining will continue all day every Thursday and Friday until July 15. The current terms, imposed by the College after faculty rejected a tentative agreement but chose not to strike in 2005, will expire June 30.

DISTINGUISHED TEACHERS

Congratulations to Dr. Tom Habbegger (professor, Sports and Exercise Studies) and Tom Shanahan, J.D. (professor, Paralegal Studies), who were recognized as the winners of this year’s Distinguished Teaching Awards at In-Service Day ceremonies. Adjunct faculty Susan Rosh and Mary Lewis were also honored.

OEA ENDORSES TIM MYERS FOR STRS BOARD

Ballots for the election to fill the vacant seat on the board of the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS), which were mailed to faculty at their home addresses, must be returned by next Monday, May 5, 2008.

Tim Myers, an active teacher from Elida, Ohio is the only active classroom teacher running for the position. He regularly attends STRS Board meetings, has earned a Certificate of Achievement in Public Plan Policy in both pension benefits and health care through training provided by OEA, and is committed to keeping your pension secure and maintaining access to affordable health care for current and future retirees. OEA has endorsed Tim Myers for the STRS Board.

SERVICE TO THE PROFESSION?

Interested in expressing your opinion in a column for The Advocate?

Each issue of NEA's publication of the "Higher Education Advocate" has a dialogue section on the back page, where higher ed faculty respond to a question that has been posed to them about academic practices, teaching philosophies, etc. The June, 2008 issue will be addressing the question: "Does the use of laptops by students in the undergraduate classroom interfere with instruction?"

If you are interested in responding to this question, you may contact Truphena Choti, NEA Higher Education Publications, directly at pubint3@nea.org for additional information.

UPDATE ON STATE LEGISLATION REGARDING TEXTBOOKS

In an earlier issue of The Word, we shared that legislation pending in the Ohio Senate intended to address the issue of rising textbook prices would also prohibit faculty from using textbooks that they authored in courses taught at their college, even if these textbooks were selected as part of the normal textbook selection process. Senator Tom Roberts, who authored SB151, met with the Ohio Faculty Council (OFC), which represents faculty from 4-year colleges in Ohio, on March 14 and agreed to remove this language from the bill. In its place he has inserted language that 2- and 4-year college faculty should assist in finding ways to reduce the cost of textbooks.

One of the ways that we are working together to do so included participating in a "Textbook Affordability Symposium" last Tuesday here on campus. Both the Ohio Faculty Senate (the sister organization to the OFC that represents 2-year college faculty) and CSEA had representatives at the symposium.

PASSAGES

We note the resignation from the College of Mary Morgan, assistant professor of Nuclear Medicine. She served the past 16 months as CSEA Parliamentarian.

We also would like to wish Tom Henry (HVAC Technology) congratulations on his retirement. Tom’s last day at the college is today.

REMEMBER: PERSONAL LEAVE IS PERSONAL

Several faculty have had problems lately around what is considered “proper use” of personal leave, and one faculty member has filed a grievance based on a disagreement over what constitutes such “proper use.”

There is only one way to avoid such problems: when submitting the required paperwork to request leave, DO NOT DISCUSS THE REASON YOU ARE REQUESTING LEAVE. If you are asked for a reason, simply use language directly from the contract and state that it is to attend to “matters of a personal nature or for a religious observance that cannot be accomplished at times other than normal working hours.”

Personal Leave is PERSONAL. You are not required to provide a reason for requesting personal leave, and a chair can not deny leave simply because you respectfully decline to provide an explanation of how it will be used. Our contract language protects you from having leave unreasonably denied.


The Word is produced by the Communications Committee of the Columbus State Education Association. We welcome your comments, news, and insights.

Darrell Minor, President and President-elect/ x5310
Amy Brubaker, Vice-President / x5068
Susan Moran, Secretary / x5453
Phil MacLean, Treasurer / x5308
Mary Morgan, Parliamentarian-elect / x5768

Steve Abbott, Senior Association Representative / x5096
Gil Feiertag, Senior Association Representative / x5861
Judy Anderson, Association Representative / x5822
Liz Betzel, Association Representative / x5329
Mark Bocija, Association Representative / x5049
Dave Busch, Association Representative / x5079
T.J. Duda, Association Representative / x5309
Dr. Charlie Gallucci, Association Representative / x5499
Cindy Evans, Association Representative / x2435
Bob Mergel, Association Representative / x5034
Eric Nuebauer, Association Representative / x5698
Dona Reaser, Association Representative / x5475
Gilberto Serrano, Association Representative / x3863
Leslie Smith, Association Representative / x5302
Kathy Struve, Association Representative / x5330


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